America in the 19th -20th was known as
the land of opportunity. Many countries at that time were underdeveloped and
America had the most stable economy. We were the most advanced in that time
essentially. Now around the world there were many great conflicts, whether
dealing with poverty, running from the government as a criminal or for safety,
or just for a new start. Most of the immigrants were European, mainly Jews,
Slavs; Irish, Russian etc. many Jews were seeking their “homeland”. During that
time the holocaust was occurring in Germany. As we all know about the
holocaust, it was genocide for any non-Arians. 6million Jews were killed, while
the survivors fled to either neighboring countries. But it got to a point where
the Nazis would retrieve these run away Jews and Germany took over most of the
other countries by violent actions. Many countries didn’t let the Jews come
into their own homes due to that reason. It was destroying the land of others
who didn’t get involved. Now otherwise many other Europeans were seeking a new
beginning or at least to give their children a new chance a new way of life.
Many called America the land where money was on the floor. However that wasn’t
the case, once immigrants came and started to settle they found themselves in tenement
homes that were shared with another family. The only benefit of that is that
they were with others who spoke their language or from their countries. They
also faced health issues due to the lack of hygiene created by the conditions
of their life style. Companies wanted to basically own the employees. The expectations
of the employees and of the employers didn’t agree always. It was a melting
pot, but nothing was melting.
